PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NFL : Packers Pulling Out of Milwaukee

The Green Bay Packers are abandoning Milwaukee, where they have played part of their schedule since the Great Depression.

Team President Bob Harlan said the Packers will play their full home schedule in Green Bay and will not renew their lease on aging County Stadium.

In recent years, the Packers have played one exhibition and three regular-season games at County Stadium, home of baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers.

County Stadium lacks luxury-box seating; the Packers have 108 boxes at Lambeau Field, with 90 more being built.

“We’ve got to take full advantage of our stadium,” Harlan said.

The decision leaves the NFL without a presence in Milwaukee for the first time since 1933.

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Jack Kent Cooke’s plan to move his Washington Redskins to Laurel, Md., suffered a serious setback when a zoning officer rejected his application to build a 78,600-seat stadium.

“This was not a close case,” Robert Wilcox, the hearing officer, said. “Simply stated, the property is too small for the proposed use.”

The Redskins quickly filed an appeal and issued a statement from Cooke saying he intends to “vigorously pursue our object of building the (stadium). Wilcox’s decision provides us with a road map to cure the faults he envisions.”

Stadium opponents were jubilant about the ruling, but said they were aware the fight is not over.

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The New Orleans Saints turned their trade of a cornerback into a cornerback swap.

The Saints, worried they would lose Reginald Jones to free agency in the off-season, traded him to the Cleveland Browns on Tuesday for an undisclosed draft choice.

On Wednesday, they claimed Selwyn Jones, the cornerback the Browns cut to make room for Jones.

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Quarterback John Elway was one of three players held out of practice as the Denver Broncos began gearing toward Monday night’s game against Kansas City. Elway, who has a jammed and bruised right thumb, was expected to resume workouts today. . . . Philadelphia Eagle rookie Charlie Garner, seeking to become the first running back in NFL history to rush for 100 yards in each of his first three games, said he’s not sure if an injured rib will keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys. . . . David Klingler wants to throw 50 passes a game to try to break the Cincinnati Bengals out of the winless category, but Coach Dave Shula told him to forget it.